


The Story of Petrichor, and the Golden Timeline

by CuddleBuff



Category: Frostpunk (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 11:58:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17866829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CuddleBuff/pseuds/CuddleBuff
Summary: Ezra Wolfe is the Captain of Petrichor, what he thought was just another “Last City on Earth”.During a difficult time of his life, he began to play a Survival City Game called Frostpunk, where the world has become dark and frozen with ever descending apocalyptic cold on the horizon.Within this world, what began as a simple quest to find his own personal “Golden Timeline” turned into a quest to save himself, his friends and people, but most importantly an impossible Woman who would change his perception of Time and Reality.On the 57th timeline/attempt he meets Aether Of Petrichor. a Lady from London eloquent with her words and armed with a deep understanding of history, Stream Technology, a .50 caliber Hunting Rifle, and a sword designed to kill polar bears. It would be Aether who would open Ezra's eyes to the choices he had made, and the choices he would need to make to survive. For Aether has had to live 57 lives all ending in death, since every time Ezra had reset “the world” Aether has been completely immune to shifts, pauses, and accelerations in Time again and again.Now the time has come for Aether and Ezra to and make the Golden Timeline before it is too late.





	The Story of Petrichor, and the Golden Timeline

The City of PETRICHOR  
HOME OF THE ORPHANS  
HOME OF THE FREE

Chapter 1  
“All Hope Is Lost, Perfect.”

The journal of Ezra D. Wolfe  
Captain of City of Petrichor

“Hello Lady Aether,

If you are reading this. It is because I am dead. But you are not. Which is great! It means we still have Hope. This is not sarcasm, though my sarcastic American accent has probably driven you mad in the past.

As of this writing, at this point in my “life”. I have finally lived as many and “I'm not bragging just perspective”, but a few more, lifetimes as you. This was 57 right? Imagine what my perspective would be like, at 200 something.

That's probably insane given how you just really met “me” and yes, I just got shot. I am, at this point in your timeline, dead. You can go confirm it, but one of the things that I’m sure you’ve noticed is that though “Death” and “Time” are the rulers of this reality and mine, there are those who “Rebel Against the Mechanisms of God.”

Like me, and from you’ve told me, very much You. We are the rebels of what is possible and impossible.

“Only you could really understand what that, in the end, what your reality means.” right?

So, yes even though I am dead. This journal is real. You’re holding it right now right? Which means you are safe, and though we never really have any time, we do.

Everything that you have experienced all this “Time” is and has been real. Every emotion you have and had. Every person that you have met in the many lifetimes you have since lived. They were all real. All of it. Because you are as real as every City that ever existed that you experienced.

“And those experiences, those memories, and the love of that you gave in every one of those lifetimes. They were all real, I promise you “

I am sorry again for failing you so many times.

 

I'm sorry again for up until your today, I did not know that you even existed. I'm also sorry for saying I'm sorry. I know you hate that. So “No more Sorries. Work”. That’s what you used to tell me all the time. I never forgot the first time you told me that, it has driven my life since.

Please don’t worry about losing this journal or if something happens to it, because as long as you are alive, it will always come back to you.

The same with everyone around you, everyone you know and knew, for as long as you are alive, they are all alive too. (That probably sounds super cheesy even though we haven't had cheese in years)

“People you have met and have yet to meet.”  
“It is possible we can still save everyone.”

If things... have gone AS PLANNED, then yes, the Generator has exploded because of the remote max overdrive setting. Thank God for those modifications we made. See I told you that making things explode faster would someday save us. So, that moment happened and it probably looked great except for when everyone in the Wall Drill Storm Shelter (which you helped design thank you) when all 294 people, men, women, and children, suddenly and mysteriously disappeared like the Christian Rapture.

“Big boom, the bad guy runs away, everyone is kept safe.”

This was all planned out, to save and protect the people you were with from that other “Captain”. If you see him before you meet, you must do everything you can to hide from him. He must never know that exist because I know the moment he finds out of your existence, he is going to do everything in his power to capture you and control you.

The People of The City, they, like me, are both right now “alive and dead” (not zombies) but in just “we haven’t existed yet”. With the Generator having exploded, you are now the only person still “alive” on this Earth. This is only possible because of the journal you are reading now.

[Side note: Bless Brian, that old engineer that helped design this wall drill, and helped us design this Storm Shelter, he does his best. Please remind me not to push him so hard when you get the chance. He's old but really without him our engineering teams would be nothing.

Also, I’m sorry I lied and didn't lie earlier. I do remember everyone's names or eventually I will learn how to. I want to be the kind of person who can remember people’s names. Not just call or think of them as just “characters”. Everyone here was and is real, just like you.

And because they were all real I will remember everyone before I die.]

So right now, you are (hopefully) the only one left in this world. But if you’re still reading this then Hope literally still lives.

“The Golden Timeline is Real.”

 

“It is still possible! I've seen it. It is possible to save 710 people even in this hell and unite the cities of the Frostlands. I've been there and as long as You are Alive this journal and that one ‘Final Timeline’ will exist.”

 

I know you probably feel really alone right now in this huge empty storm shelter even though you are someone I know who is comfortable in loneliness. It's probably getting colder and the lights and heat are all dying out. Things probably seem really bleak and horrible and the truth is, they are.

They always have been right? Yet we persevere. We work hard, for those who can’t, for those we love, and those we have yet to truly meet.

I know we just “met” and this all must be incredibly awkward. I must ask for your great well of patience but also your own honestly superior intelligence (I'm an idiot)

For you were the one who gave this journal to me. :3

My proof is in the Name of Our City.  
Yes it is Our City. It always was and always will be.  
Our City and Our Home:

PETRICHOR “our Home”

“It means the world after the rain right?”  
“And it will never rain again on this Earth”.

But it also means HOPE. You were the one who first told me about that beautiful word. The smell when things are clean after the rain back when it still did rain… the smell when things are earthy, dirty, but warm from sunshine and joy that “The Storm is Over”.

It is the smell of a world that is alive and can come back to life again and again. No matter how many times it rains, or even if it can never rain again, PETRICHOR WILL BE POSSIBLE, so long as you live. For you are in truth, the heart and soul of this place, city, and people.

In every timeline we meet.

This journal is, was, and always will be a gift that has blessed me countlessly throughout much during my life. Both of my lives, in this world, and the next. The very real truth of this journal is that is has been a blessing only because, You have been a blessing in my life.

We just really met, and now I'm dead, but I know how strong you are, I know how wise and how loving you can be. I also know that you can get really angry and frustrated and like when when I get to the point.

Saying I am “sorry” again to you, would be pointless and stupid at this point.

Since you yourself would always say “actions are louder than words” and “trust must be earned”. I may be dead. But this not over. No matter what you are going through, no matter how cold it gets, or no matter how dark things will become.

At this point you probably have about 6 hours left before all of the heat and energy in the city dies out. It should be plenty of time to get the supplies and gear for yourself for a three day journey. If things, have gone as “originally planned” you should be able to use the experimental boosted sleds”

Like I said earlier the reason why you are still here while everyone disappeared earlier after the Generator explosion is because you now have this journal. Which means it's time to go...

“No sorries, work harder.” We have work to do. We have things to fix, lives to save, and please help me kill the Captain who shot Me.

If you are reading this, you are still alive, and it means we still have a chance. I know you won't give up now. You never do, so I never will

As you already guessed, the concept of “Time” is not as certain as most people think and experience it. You know that there is more to your world than just the ever deadly cold. There is so much more and it all just gets wild. You know that there is more out there and that there is more possible.

You were absolutely right. You were right Aether. About so much and more.

“But being right won't save us.”

Don't worry about that right now. But please remember it. Because you were right about how there was so much more to me, there is more to you, there is more to everything out there.

I have to warn you of a few things first:

You are right that I was, not from your world.  
You were right, I’m not from your time.  
You were right, none of the other Captains are either.  
You are right that not all the Captains are dangerous or evil.

There is one who most certainly is, and we're going to someday end him.

You are absolutely right that you and everyone you like (even though you probably still really don't like me right now) is in great danger. Not just in this city but in every “City left” and every “City possible.”

I'm not trying to guilt trip you on this epic adventure we might have . But this is obviously a “you're our only hope here” kind of thing.

“You get it. Let's do this.”

We just “met” a few moments ago, so I’m sure this must sound mad and confusing. Please be patient with me. I’m sorry, I am rather dead at this moment. That was a joke, meant to cheer you up.

I honestly don’t like writing. It's hard for me. As you will know I can be known for procrastination and other negative qualities. But you are more than a patient person. You are remarkable, one of a kind, and honestly my inspiration and hope for writing this.

I have been and will be writing this journal for both of us. Within this journal is the keys to many of your questions but I have to warn you like just like when we first “met” earlier, every question is just going to lead into more questions too. Like I can give you the keys to all of these doors, but it gets bad, and I may not be able to answer all of them.

I promise you that I will do my best to answer any questions in this journal.

Actually try this later if you want.  
Ask me a few questions at the bottom of the page.

“I promise somehow you'll see an answer.”

For I will not only honor the gift of this Journal, but really I want to honor You… (which I’m sure once again, this all sounds ridiculous right now. I’ll do my best to make sense of all of this later.)

“You” were the one who asked me to write this in the first place. You haven't done it yet. Or never did it. I'm not sure but that's not important. 

A lot of this journal is going to seem very “strange” say the least. Parts of this journal will change over time. You will see this journal age, then un-age. New pages will be added as you go. As you can see only the first few chapters and the last chapters are finished. But even as I'm reading and writing this, I can see how certain things in this journal are... "Fluxing". I am also not the only one writing in this journal, you are too. I am starting to see your writing in the journal, it is slowing appearing in ink in the next few pages. Your handwriting is definitely better than mine.

I cannot explain how this is possible for you yet. I'm still not sure myself how any of this is possible. To say that this journal is Magical would be a lie. I don't believe in magic and neither do you.

 

We both lost our Faiths a long time ago right?

This is “more than magic”. Since it's not magic that is writing this journal, but very real ink and paper and the stories that we have yet to tell and the stories we have told.

We have to write so our stories can be taken even if we are shivering as you can see by my terrible writing or even when we're dead.

As you read this journal my only guarantee (I hope) is that only the first page chapters which you're welcome to read (spoilers) and the final last page will never change. “I promise you”. No matter what happens these two chapters will never change. If they do, well it means we have either failed or maybe life and fate has other things in store for us.

I honestly don’t know right now as I'm writing this. It's getting colder on my side too.

But our story actually hasn't been told yet has it. At least to you it thankfully isn’t over just yet..

I hope from the bottom of my dead heart it will will be as good as I remember.

But I should and need to start from the beginning of all of this and this is going to be dark, awkward, and kind of personal but it's the end of the world so who cares anymore right?:

There is this place I go to die, but not really die. It is actually possible to reach this place here in this world.

I went through some nightmarish abuse as a lookout kid. But when things got bad, I would imagine myself on this wooden “Painted Bench” that was just two foot steps from oblivion, as the bench always faces a dark ocean on a high Cliff at night time. There are no fences. Always two steps away from death. Every time I would imagine sitting on this wooden bench, it would always been a different color and design. The environment would usually change to reflect what I was going through at the time. But it was always comfortable and lonely. Just enough, so instead of “jumping off” I would sit there, and watch oblivion rather than join it.

It was my little way of not killing myself. I did not live the same childhood as you did, not even in the same world, but my own life and world has its own share of hardships. Not to the same apocalyptic situation you and everyone else here is. All I can share with you is that:

“...though my world has not fallen to the Great Winter, there are nightmares here I pray never cross over to your world.”

(I hope that doesn't sound so serious. Don't worry about it for now.)

Somehow this Bench has saved me from truly “Jumping” countless times. Though the world would around the bench and itself would change with all the worlds that I have visited both in my imagination and reality, this place came to go from representing my hopelessness in life to it representing a very real hope.

This was only possible in the first place because of You.  
Thank You.

This place always represented the same things to me. Behind me was my life, my regrets, my accomplishments, and my fears and in front of me was Death and Oblivion and it's siren of false peace. The bench became where instead of choosing death, I would reflect, reconsider, and (usually) choose life instead.

You taught me that. I will never forget it.

Of my 32 years of being alive in on this Earth. I have never been pulled there by force until I met you.

I have placed the coordinates of where this bench is at the bottom of the page.

I know the weather is reaching -70c right now. I know all of this is just absolutely crazy. All hope has been lost. Everyone is gone. But it's not over.

Petrichor is still possible. “hope.”

You should have plenty of time to get everything you need and get to the coordinates before the next Storm hits. Which should be in about 4 days.

That's kind of a lie honestly. We should meet each other. “Right on time.”

You'll get what I mean.

Aether. Please be safe. 

You're not alone.  
Hope is alive.  
Hope lives so long as you live.

See you for the “first time” again soon.


End file.
